Gaming help

[Cin]

What does it mean if you can't run a game on pc or it runs like a sideshow? It means my computer isn't good enough, right?

I would like to know how you figure out how far you are from the needed system specs. Higher number doesn't seem to represent better graphics card and such, so it's very difficult for me to know what things to upgrade.

I know how much ram I have and stuff but don't know what graphics I have. Any help would be greatly appreciated,

My computer can play games like far cry 2, which is a fairly old game I think but can't play games released lately.

Also if you have a console, you don't need to worry about upgrading anything after you purchase it, right?

[Dena]

I am not a gamer but I know how to put the hurt on a computer. If you have other programs running at the same time you are playing a game, the game will slow down. You can try shutting down the web browser, Email and any other active programs before starting the game. Another issue is the amount of RAM the program requires. Ram is cheap to upgrade but if you don't have enough it will really kill the performance of anything running on the system. Shutting down other programs will free up additional ram but there will be a minimum amount required. When I buy a system, I go for the additional ram so I don't have to upgrade latter. Many times the default system lacks enough ram from the factory.

[Cin]

Yes I do seem to have stuff running In the background, I'll kill them, but some games just flat out refuse to run.

I closed Skype and other applications near the task bar, and it seems to have sped things up a little, thanks.

[Angelyng357]

What are your current system specs? GPU, CPU, RAM are the main things you look for, along with hard drive space, to have room for newer games.

[Cin]

What are your current system specs? GPU, CPU, RAM are the main things you look for, along with hard drive space, to have room for newer games.

Intel core 2 duo, 2560 mb ram, not sure about gpu, is it the graphics card? I don't know how to look it up.

[Angelyng357]

Yes, GPU is the graphics card.  What operating system are you running? If there is a graphics card, it would be listed in devices on Windows under control panel.  And you honestly would need a new computer in order to play anything out newer. That is extremely out of date.  Only 2 gbs of RAM is really bad for anything new. The would explain why you get such bad frame rate.

[Cin]

Yes, GPU is the graphics card.  What operating system are you running? If there is a graphics card, it would be listed in devices on Windows under control panel.  And you honestly would need a new computer in order to play anything out newer. That is extremely out of date.  Only 2 gbs of RAM is really bad for anything new. The would explain why you get such bad frame rate.

Thank you, I clicked here and there, and it said geforce 210. It would help me very much if you posted your specs, so I know which processor is better than mine, I thought I had a lot of ram tbh, I use Windows 7

[Angelyng357]

My computer is technically out of date too, but i built it for about 650 by myself. I have an Intel i5 processor, 8 gbs of Ram, and a Geforce GTX 750.  I can run most newer games, but on low settings only.  It's not much of a beast, but it does the job for what i like to play. Mk, That is a good os, in the sense of gaming. I've liked 10 so far,  haven't seen much difference in performance with it, but thats not everyone's case.  the 210 is fairly old by now, and with what you have said your specs are, it doesn't surprise me at all that you would have issues with newer games.

[EmilyMK03]

Cin, your PC has multiple outdated components.  It's probably better to just buy a new gaming PC altogether since every component is so old... especially since it appears you don't have the technical expertise to upgrade it yourself.

Or you can just abandon PC gaming altogether and buy a console system like Xbox or Playstation.  You never have to upgrade any parts on those machines.

Personally, I enjoy both PC gaming and console gaming, so I have everything... but it gets expensive... 

[Raye]

Currently I have two workstations right now. A 980 + a 660, I use foremost for Gaming Videos + the later for Mild Gaming. The 660 is still pretty decent as I can Skyrim in High Detail fairly easy on Ultra Settings I lose a bit of framerate, but it's not too bad. Also saves on electricity using the lower-end PC for the most part!

The Love Shack(980 System) (I do want to upgrade to the 1080 now :/ LOL)
Operating System (OS) Windows 8.1
Control Processing Unit (CPU) Intel i5-4440 CPU @ 3.10Ghz
Random Access Memory (RAM) RAM 16.0 GB DDR3 1600
Motherboard (MOBO) ASUS Z-787-Pro
Power Supply Unit (PSU) Corsair CX 600M

The Iron Grenadier (660 System)
OS W7
CPU Intel Pentium G3258 Haswell Dual-Core 3.2 GHz
RAM 8.0 GB DDR3 1600
MOBO ASRock B85M Pro4/ASM
PSU EVGA 500B

To be honest of lately I've been feeling about cannibalizing my ASUS GTX GeForce 660 into the EVGA GTX GeForce 980 System as a PhysX Card.

My first system at the time without the 980 roughly cost me 1065 at the time, but I did have it discounted to 765 so I am a bit biased since I did have a deal sponsorship going on with ASUS + Corsair at the time. Which they even sold me a 660 at that time for 120 Bucks! But my new system with the 660 is relatively cheap. You might want to start saving up some money for a decently cheap system you'd be surprised about what you can get for only paying 650 Bucks right now.If your curious about my cases I'll list them - just lemme know.

But if/when you decide to build a PC if that's something you want... Always get the MOBO + CPU first those are the only parts that are really in my honest opinion that matter in the ways specs to the type of system you want to build. If you wanna head out to the AMD Side of things you'll find that you'll be saving some money 'typically'. I can't tell you what CPU is better than the other, but if you do go for an AMD PROCESSOR you won't be able to use it in an INTEL MOTHERBOARD and VICE VERSA. I recommend doing some research on your budget plan. But also take a look at usability. Usually when you want to build a PC it's for something that will last much longer than the ones that are generically made by companies like: Apple, Dell, ASUS, Sony, HP, Lenovo, MSI, Acer, etc. If you choose the generic route, please just please... Don't go with HP. ASUS, Acer, + Lenovo make some decent PC's IMO, but again I am a bit biased. My next PC is going to be an AMD and I'm not ashamed to admit that.

Other than that it's not hard to select the type of RAM you will need, but different boards and cpu's do have specific grades of speed of RAM it can take (or handle) So you might want to take a look at that. Then I suggest taking a look at alternatives for your system as I've said what whatever reasons you plan to go with it. Gaming might invest in a Water Cooling CPU System wouldn't hurt. I still use the stock cooler in my CPU and it's decent, but I've been heading towards that for awhile now. Power Supply is another matter if you don't plan to get a GPU in your system you can probably get away with a lower wattage unit. If your a neat freak you might want to get a Semi or Full Modular PSU so you can minimize the unnecessary cable issues you may or may not need use of or want.


If I missed something other than cooling fans just lemme know! I wanted 7 fans in my case and had to jerry-rig the fans with cable ties and directly port the power to the PSU itself. I ran out of case fans to plug into the MOBO itself.

[Asheylov]

Right now my PC is new, i built it from case up.

Mine is called the Black Widow




inside it has:

Operating System (OS):          Windows 7
Control Processing Unit (CPU): INTEL Core I7 - 6700 CPU @ 3.40 GHz
Random Access Memory (RAM): Kingston 16.0GB DDR4
Motherboard (MOBO): MSI Z170A GAMING M7
Power Supply Unit (PSU): Corsair HX1000i 80 Plus Platinum 1000W Power Supply
Graphics card: 2 x  NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti
Soild State Drive:  Kingston 230GB
liquid Cooling CPU: Corsair Hydro Series H100i V2 Liquid CPU Cooler
Hard Dive: 1 Tb high speed
storage Dive: 5 TB




the 1080 Graphics card is not worth it. , between the GTX 980 Ti and 1080.

and the 980 ti is less cost now.


if you have question im here 

[Dena]

Watch what you call generic. I am moderating you with
Mac Pro (Late 2013)
3.7 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon E5
16 GB 1866 MHz DDR3 ECC
AMD FirePro D300 2048 MB
In addition I have 4TB external memory.

[Raye]

the 1080 Graphics card is not worth it. , between the GTX 980 Ti and 1080.

and the 980 ti is less cost now.

if you have question im here 

I do a lot more than gaming videos with my 980 and it does involve pixels, polygons, and art, but right now a 1080 isn't viable even if I'm into designing worlds and levels.

Watch what you call generic. I am moderating you with
Mac Pro (Late 2013)
3.7 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon E5
16 GB 1866 MHz DDR3 ECC
AMD FirePro D300 2048 MB
In addition I have 4TB external memory.

Am I allowed to 'publicly' feel sorry for you? I mean you can't do upgrades with it. Ram and HD yes, but you can't change out other features without a bit of tech skills and voiding the warranty.


Some laptops you are able to change out the CPU for something better, but many of them are integrated unto the mobo along with whatever GPU is on it. In most cases those laptops have their GPU Specs on the CPU itself all in one integrated package. I do love the overall professional design of Apple Products, but the fallacies on how they design, produce, and deliver their products could use a much more customization to increase the longevity of their devices. Although, there are many people who also don't mind cashing out huge bank to get the next gen as soon as it comes out as well. But Apple Products overall are rather expensive.

[Dena]

Am I allowed to 'publicly' feel sorry for you? I mean you can't do upgrades with it. Ram and HD yes, but you can't change out other features without a bit of tech skills and voiding the warranty.


Some laptops you are able to change out the CPU for something better, but many of them are integrated unto the mobo along with whatever GPU is on it. In most cases those laptops have their GPU Specs on the CPU itself all in one integrated package. I do love the overall professional design of Apple Products, but the fallacies on how they design, produce, and deliver their products could use a much more customization to increase the longevity of their devices. Although, there are many people who also don't mind cashing out huge bank to get the next gen as soon as it comes out as well. But Apple Products overall are rather expensive.

It depends on your point of view. My system was purchased two and a half years ago and still is around twice as powerful as yours. The system before that was purchased in 2005 and gave me 9 years of service before the OS started having issues with some of the web pages. I buy a system with far more power than my needs and I run it 6 year or better so that expensive system starts looking pretty cheap. By the time you replace the mother board, the processor, the ram, the graphics processor, you may as well replace the entire thing. Besides that, a computer is a tool to me and I don't want to spend all my time fixing the tool instead of the problem the the tool was designed to correct.

If you enjoy custom building computers and fighting them when you hit a hardware incompatibility, more power to you but I am willing to throw a bit more money at the problem so I don't have to do that.

As for why I go with Apple, Microsoft turns out operating systems that give me nothing but headaches. Every time I have to dig into the operating system I regret it. Apples OS has everything were it's easy to get at and I have few problems with it. They offer the entire software development platform free and if I want, I can use it at the UNIX command line level when the GUI is incapable of doing what I want to do. I will agree that many  people don't desire any of the things I like about Apple products and they are free to buy something else but you don't need to feel sorry for me because I am buying exactly what I want for reasons that are right for me.

[Raye]

It depends on your point of view. My system was purchased two and a half years ago and still is around twice as powerful as yours. The system before that was purchased in 2005 and gave me 9 years of service before the OS started having issues with some of the web pages. I buy a system with far more power than my needs and I run it 6 year or better so that expensive system starts looking pretty cheap. By the time you replace the mother board, the processor, the ram, the graphics processor, you may as well replace the entire thing. Besides that, a computer is a tool to me and I don't want to spend all my time fixing the tool instead of the problem the the tool was designed to correct.

If you enjoy custom building computers and fighting them when you hit a hardware incompatibility, more power to you but I am willing to throw a bit more money at the problem so I don't have to do that.

As for why I go with Apple, Microsoft turns out operating systems that give me nothing but headaches. Every time I have to dig into the operating system I regret it. Apples OS has everything were it's easy to get at and I have few problems with it. They offer the entire software development platform free and if I want, I can use it at the UNIX command line level when the GUI is incapable of doing what I want to do. I will agree that many  people don't desire any of the things I like about Apple products and they are free to buy something else but you don't need to feel sorry for me because I am buying exactly what I want for reasons that are right for me.

You do make some valid points. I'm considering building a Mac at some point. You can buy the software from Apple themselves. But I don't know what the legalities are around for it. So until I find concrete proof I won't be sued that's something I'm considering. I use to make my own music and Pro Tools was something I preferred over the Windows Alternatives. I have an EME Background so working on parts isn't an issue. My system will still work well for at least 8 more years guaranteed. It's only two years old and I take good care of it meticulously cleaning out dust to increase it's lifespan. I will give you one thing the mobo did fail recently and had to be replaced because I didn't have an extra tool to use on the mobo to replace the Voltage Regulator that went out. But have most of the tools to properly repair the machine over all. I can get parts very cheap if need be so cost isn't an issue for me as much as trading parts for other parts. I do tend to program my own scripts to utilize the RAM associated with my machine to get the most out of certain programs when need be.

[Asheylov]

i also have a mac laptop , compared to my other one, its alright.

the main reason for the lap top is to write , java scripts. aka apps or security 

the  main large tower aka black widow, is use to run games and more.

so i payed for it, but i get most of it back on tax.

[EmilyMK03]

As a techie and gamer myself (who always builds her own gaming rigs and home theater PCs), I think it's easy for me to get carried away and start talking shop when it comes to PC components and upgrades.  I think most of you are similar, based on the responses I'm seeing. 

But let's not forget the OP's initial topic and question!  Cin needs help playing PC games, and we should help her (sorry, you don't have a gender indicator on your profile, so I'm guessing you're a "she" and not a "he" or "they").

Cin, it seems like you don't know much about PC hardware, so it's probably not practical to build your own PC.  So that means you need to buy a new computer, if you're still interested in PC gaming.

The questions you need to ask yourself (and share with us) are:
- what are some of the specific games that I want to be able to play on my new computer?
- what's my budget for a new gaming computer?
- am I willing to buy from an online-only retailer (such as Falcon-NW), or would I feel more comfortable buying from a bricks & mortar store (such as Best Buy)

Those are good places to start, and will help us direct you to the right answers.

[Dena]

You do make some valid points. I'm considering building a Mac at some point. You can buy the software from Apple themselves. But I don't know what the legalities are around for it. So until I find concrete proof I won't be sued that's something I'm considering. I use to make my own music and Pro Tools was something I preferred over the Windows Alternatives.

To my knowledge, Apple will no longer permit clone systems and the currents software can't be purchased separately. The systems now come with a downloader built into the hardware and if you should have a mass storage failure, you have two options.
1. Tell the systems to restore it's self from your time machine backup.
2. Tell it to connect to Apple and download a new copy of the software.
I am sure it's a legal violation to duplicate that software and the software license for the OS only allows you to use the software on MAC products.

By the way, I use the term mass storage because they are now using flash memory in their systems and it's so much faster that rotating hard drives. If only it was a bit cheaper.

[Cin]

As a techie and gamer myself (who always builds her own gaming rigs and home theater PCs), I think it's easy for me to get carried away and start talking shop when it comes to PC components and upgrades.  I think most of you are similar, based on the responses I'm seeing. 

But let's not forget the OP's initial topic and question!  Cin needs help playing PC games, and we should help her (sorry, you don't have a gender indicator on your profile, so I'm guessing you're a "she" and not a "he" or "they").

Cin, it seems like you don't know much about PC hardware, so it's probably not practical to build your own PC.  So that means you need to buy a new computer, if you're still interested in PC gaming.

The questions you need to ask yourself (and share with us) are:
- what are some of the specific games that I want to be able to play on my new computer?
- what's my budget for a new gaming computer?
- am I willing to buy from an online-only retailer (such as Falcon-NW), or would I feel more comfortable buying from a bricks & mortar store (such as Best Buy)

Those are good places to start, and will help us direct you to the right answers.

Thanks, your post helped a lot. I asked these questions to myself and I found them difficult to answer.

You're right, I don't know much but I found this thread really fascinating. You people seem to be discussing stuff I have no Idea about. 

I'm still confused, it says geforce 210 in some places and Intel graphics in other places. I don't know which is better either. It appears some of you have multiple graphics cards and they're as expensive as my pc?  my whole pc os cheaper than a 980 or whatever.

[Cin]

I used to have steam which let me buy games for cheap. My favorite kind of games would be gta 4 or Saints row, but It gets tough after 20% progress for me. Also I remember getting far in fable but getting stuck.